Saturday, October 2, 2010

It's called the Levitron. But who cares what it's called, because it's simply awesome. It uses a technique called spin stabilized magnetic levitation to keep the top stabilized in mid-air, giving it the illusion of "anti-gravity." Now, since I don't know how magnets work, I'm not going to talk about how it actually functions. Alternatively, you could check out their page which explains the physics behind the Levitron by clicking here.

2000 BCE: Fucking magnets, how do they work?600 BCE: That magnet is a material called lodestone. How do lodestones work?400 BCE: The lodestone attracts a needle. How do needles work?1000 CE: A magnetized needle always points to the poles. How do compasses work?1600 CE: A compass works because Earth itself is a magnet. How do magnetic fields work?1800 CE: Magnetic fields can be influenced by an electric current. How does electricity work?1850 CE: Electricity and magnetism are different aspects of the same fundamental force. How does electromagnetism work?1900 CE: Electromagnetism is caused by the motion and interactions of an elementary particle called an electron. How do electrons work?1950 CE: Electrons belong to a group of particles called Leptons, which belong to model of particle physics known as the Standard Model. This model explains the electromagnetic, weak and strong nuclear forces and their interactions with matter and energy on a quantum level.